Top-feeding automatic tag-attaching machine

ABSTRACT

A top-feeding automatic tag-attaching machine capable of attaching a tag to an article by way of a bar-lock fastener. A supporting structure has a supporting surface against which the operator places the article, and a positioning structure positions a tag over the article on the supporting surface. A carriage is provided carrying an automatic dispenser which dispenses a bar-lock fastener upon being triggered. The supporting structure carries a guiding structure which guides the carriage for movement from an upper retracted position downwardly along a working stroke to a lower end position where the dispenser carried by the carriage is triggered to dispense a barlock fastener which is placed by the dispenser in a position extending through and attaching the tag to the article. Then the carriage moves along the return stroke back up to its retracted position. A fluid-pressure structure is connected with the carriage to bring about a cycle of operation during which the carriage is moved along its working and return strokes. This fluid-pressure structure is set into operation to bring about the cycle in response to operation of an operator-actuated valve which may be either a valve operated by a foot pedal or a pair of series-connected manually operable valves which require both hands of the operator for operation, for safety purposes.

United States Patent [191 Mato [451 Jul 29, 1975 TOP-FEEDING AUTOMATICTAG-ATTACHING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Laszlo Mato, Paramus, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Ben Clements & Sons, Inc., New

York, N.Y.

[22] Filed: Dec. 27, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 429,007

Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, .lr. Assistant Examiner-James F.Coan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Blum Moscovitz Friedman & Kaplan ABSTRACTA top-feeding automatic tag-attaching machine capable of attaching a tagto an article by way of a bar-lock fastener. A supporting structure hasa supporting surface against which the operator places the article, anda positioning structure positions a tag over the article on thesupporting surface. A carriage is provided carrying an automaticdispenser which dispenses a barlock fastener upon being triggered. Thesupporting structure carries a guiding structure which guides thecarriage for movement from an upper retracted position downwardly alonga working stroke to a lower end position where the dispenser carried bythe carriage is triggered to dispense a bar-lock fastener which isplaced by the dispenser in a position extending through and attachingthe tag to the article. Then the carriage moves along the return strokeback up to its retracted position. A fluid-pressure structure isconnected with the carriage to bring about a cycle of operation duringwhich the carriage is moved along its working and return strokes. Thisfluid-pressure structure is set into operation to bring about the cyclein response to operation of an operator-actuated valve which may beeither a valve operated by a foot pedal or a pair of series-connectedmanually operable valves which require both hands of the operator foroperation, for safety purposes.

PATENTED JUL 2 9 1975 SHEET PATENTED JUL2 9 1975 SHEET PATENTED JUL 291975 uni;

.1 TOP-FEEDING AUTOMATIC TAG-ATTACI'IING MACHINE BACKGROUND OFTHE'INVENTION The present invention relates to machines for attachingtags to articles such as articles of clothing, shoes, or the like.

In particular, the present invention relates to a machine which iscapable of automatically attaching a tag to an article by way of abar-lock fastener. Such fasteners are widely used for these purposes.However, at the present time it is conventional to provide arrangementsas shown, for example, in US. Pat. No. 3,589,025 where the article isplaced over the tag whichisto be attached thereto, with the structurefor applying the bar-lock fastener being situated beneath the tag.

This latter type of conventional arrangement has proved in practice toinclude several disadvantages. In the first place, it is difficult forthe operator to see. in advanve where the fastener will become situated.In the second place, considerable inconvenience is involved inconnection with manipulations-with respect to the dispenser for thebar-lock fasteners inasmuch as this dispenser is situated beneath thelocation where the article and tag are located in preparation forattaching them to each other.

Moreover, with conventional machines of the above type the tags aresituated in a magazinefrom which they are extracted to be successivelyattached to successive articles, and problems have been encountered inconnection with the successive feeding of. the tags to the locationwhere they will be properly attached to successive articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Furthermore, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a machine of the above type which enables theoperations to be carried out far more conveniently and effectively withthe possibility of the operator seeing freely where the fastener will besituated when attaching a tag and article to, each other.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction of thistype where the bar-lock fastener will connect the tag to the article insuch a way that"tagswitching will be reliably avoided.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide for amachine of the above type a tag magazine and a magazine feed structurewhich will avoid the.

problems presently encountered with conventional structures of thislatter type.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a machine which canvery effectively feed the tagsone after the other to the articles towhich they are to be attached.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide amachine of the above'type which can be conveniently operated by a footpedal, leaving thehands of the operator free for other manipulations asrequired with certain types of articles to which a tag is to beattached.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a machine ofthe above type which is composed of simple rugged elements which arevery reliable in oper- -ation.

According to the invention the machine includes a support means whichhas at its front region an upwardlydirected supporting surface on whichthe operator places an article to which a tag is to be attached. Apositioning means is located adjacent the latter supporting surface toposition a tag over the article to which the tag is to be attached. Acarriage means is situated at an elevation higher than the supportingsurface of the support means to carry a bar-lock dispenser which in awell known manner is triggered to dispense a bar-lock fastener in such away that it extends through the tag and the article for attaching themto each other. A guide means is carried by the support means and guidesthe carriage means, to which the barlock dispenser is attached, formovement from an upper retracted position downwardly along a workingstroke to a lower end position and back to the upper retracted positionalong the return stroke. A trigger means is provided in the path ofmovement of the dispenser to trigger the latter to dispense a bar-lockfastener when the carriage means reaches its lower end position. Afluid-pressure means is operatively connected with the carriage means tomove the latter in an operating cycle including movement first along theworking stroke and then along the return stroke. This fluid-pressuremeans is set into operation by an operator-actuated valve means whichmay either take the form of a valve actuated by a foot pedal or a pairof series-connected valves requiring both hands of the operator forsimultaneous operation of these valves.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample with the accompanying drawings which form part of this applanview of the machine of FIG. 2 taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 in thedirection of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken, along line 44 of FIG.2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 shows the machine of FIG. 2 with the parts illustrated in FIG 5in a position during the operating cycle subsequent to the position ofthe parts shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation illustrating the manner inwhich a positioning means receives a tag from a magazine, in accordancewith further features .of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional illustration of the manner in which a pairof shoes are attached to each other a tag situated therebetween and alsoattached to the shoes;

FIG. 8 isa fragmentary perspective illustration of another embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 9-is a fragmentary plan view of the machine in FIG. 8 at the frontregion thereof;

FIG. is a partly sectional plan view of the machine in FIGS. 8 and 9showing how an article is placed on a supporting surface;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary partly sectional elevation of the machine ofFIGS. 8 10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic partly sectional illustration of the manner inwhich a tag and article are attached with a bar-lock fastener;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a fluid-pressure system foroperating the machine of FIGS. 1 7;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary illustration of a modification which may beincorporated into the system of FIG. 13 so that this system may then beutilized with the embodiment of FIGS. 8 11;

FIG. 15 is a partly sectional fragmentary plan view illustrating how theembodiment of FIGS. 8 11 may be modified to utilize a different type oftag-positioning means and magazine means;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along lines l616 ofFIG. 15 in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation taken along line17-17 of FIG. 16in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2,there is shown therein a support means 10 in the form of a suitablehorizontal table 12 which is carried in any suitable way on a basestructure 14 at which the operator can be seated so that the operatorcan actuate with one foot the pedal 16 and can place his hands at theregion of the upwardly directed supporting surface 18 in the form of aforwardly extending projection of the table 12 of the support means 10.Upwardly directed supporting surface 18 is adapted to have an articleplaced thereon for the purpose of having a tag attached thereto. Thus,in a particular example shown in FIG. 2 a shoe 20 is placed on thesupporting surface 18 in the manner illustrated. This forwardlyprojecting part of the table 12 is formed with an opening 22 throughwhich the bar-lock fastener can project as described in greater detailbelow.

A positioning means 24 is provided for positioning a tag 26 at alocation over the article on the supporting surface 18, this tag 26being illustrated in FIG. 2. The positioning means 24 takes the form ofa suitable block of any plastic or metal, formed with at least one port28 which is maintained continuously in communication with a source ofsuction during operation of the machine. In the illustrated example, theblock which forms the positioning means 24 has three ports 28 all inalignment with each other in a front-to rear direction, and all of theseports communicate with a chamber 30 which in turn communicates through asuitable flexible conduit 32 with a source of suction which is notfurther illustrated.

The machine of the invention further includes a carriage means 34 in theform of a metal plate having the configuration which is most clearlyapparent from FIG. 1. This carriage means 34 has a front flange 36directed towards the operator and rearwardly extending wall 38 whichextends rearwardly from the left edge of the flange 36, as viewed inFIG. 1. This arrangement is also illustrated in FIG. 3. The carriagemeans 34 has at the rear end of the wall 38 a transverse wall portion 40which in turn is connected to a rearwardly extending wall portion "42.This rearwardly extending wall portion 42 is fixed by suitable screws orthe like to a grooved slide bar 44 the cross-section of which is clearlyshown in FIG. 3. This slide bar 44 of the carriage means 34 is guidedfor vertical movement in a guide means in the form of a bar 46 which isformed with a T-slot to receive the guide bar 44 as is apparent fromFIGS. 1 and 3. The guide means 46 is fixed to and extends upwardly fromthe support means 10, a suitable fastening bracket 48 (FIG. 3) beingprovided for this purpose.

The carriage means 34 carries a dispenser 50 which is of a conventionalconstruction and which is capable of dispensing bar-lock fasteners froma supply of barlock fasteners which are stored in the dispenser 50 in awell known manner which does not form part of the present invention.Thus, in order to mount the dispenser 50 on the carriage means 34, thecarriage means fixedly carries a pair of horizontally extending pins 52which are fixed to and project from the wall 38 so that the dispenser 50can be situated between the pins 52 and the flange 36, while engagingthe wall 38, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A substantially U-shapedclamping bracket 54 surrounds a handleportion of the dispenser 50 and isreleasably fixed with the wall 38 by way of a suitable screw 56 as isalso apparent from FIGS. 1 3. In this way the dispenser 50 is securelymounted on the carriage means 34 so as to move therewith. The dispenser50 operates in a well known manner in response to being triggered, thetriggering operation involving the upward swinging of a trigger lever 58which is free to swing upwardly toward the bracket 54. Thus, the U-shaped bracket 54 is provided with a configuration according to which itwill not interfere with the operation of the trigger lever 58.

The carriage means 34 is normally maintained, in a manner described ingreater detail below, in the upper retracted position shown in FIGS. 1and 2. From this upper retracted position the carriage means 34 iscapable of being moved downwardly along the working stroke to the lowerend position shown in FIG. 5. When the carriage means 34 reaches thelower end position thereof which is shown in FIG. 5, the dispenser 50 istriggered by a trigger means 60. The trigger means 60 includes a rigidfairly robust supporting plate 62 fixed to the support means, at thetable 12 thereof in the manner shown in FIG. 1. This plate 62 carries anadjustable screw 64 of the trigger means 60. This screw 64 is thuscapable of having its upper end surface situated at a selectedelevation. The elevation of the screw 64 is adjusted so that when thecarriage means 34 reaches the lower end position as shown in FIG. 5 thetrigger lever 58 is swung up to the position shown in FIG. 5 fortriggering the dispenser 50. Thus, the trigger means 60 is situated inthe path of movement of the dispenser 50 so as to trigger the latterautomatically when the carriage means 34 reaches the lower end positionshown in FIG. 5.

The triggering of the dispenser 50 results in a known way in a downwardmovement of a needle which carries a bar-lock fastener 66. This bar-lockfastener is conventional and includes an elongated filament of nylonhaving at one end a button 68 which is relatively large as compared to across-bar 70 situated at the opposite end of the nylon filament (FIG.7). In the particular example shown in FIGS. 1 7, the machine is usedfor attaching a pair of shoes to each other with the tag 36 situatedtherebetween, all of these components being fastened by way of thebar-lock fastener 72 which is shown in FIG. 7. During the downwardstroke of the needle 74 of the dispenser 50, this needle houses in agroove thereof the bar-lock fastener 72 with the crossbar 70 thereofextending parallel to the filament 66 so that as the needle 74 piercesthrough the shoes and the tag the bar-lock fastener will be carriedthrough. Upon retraction of the needle 74 the bar-lock fastener remainsand the cross-bar 70 swings to the position shown in FIG. 7 in anautomatic manner due to the resiliency of the material of the bar-lockfastener.

Thus, in order to fasten one or more articles to a tag in the mannershown in FIG. 7, the operator will place one of the articles, namely oneof the shoes 20, across the supporting surface 18 in the positionindicated most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 5. The tag 26 is situated over thepart of the lower shoe 20 which rests on the surface 18 over the opening22, and the operator holds the upper shoe over the tag 26 in the mannershown fragmentarily in FIG. 2. Then in a manner described below theoperator will bring about an operating cycle according to which thecarriage means 34 first moves downwardly along its working stroke andthen returns along the return stroke to its upper retracted position.The result is that the pair of shoes with a tag 36 therebetween will befastened to each other as is apparent from FIGS. 5 and 7. The opening 22is large enough to permit the cross-bar 70 to move up through theopening 22 when the attached articles together with the tag 36 areremoved from the machine.

In order to displace the carriage means 34 through an operating cycle asdescribed above, a fluid-pressure means is provided. In the illustratedexample this fluidpressure means is pneumatic and includes a stationerycylinder 76 fixed to and projecting downwardly from the underside of thetable 12 of the support means 10. The cylinder 76 houses a piston whichis adapted to reciprocate therein and which is operatively connectedwith a piston rod 78 fixed to the carriage means 34 in the mannerapparent from FIGS. 2 and 5. This piston rod 78 extends through thetable 12 in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 4. The cylinder 76 issupplied with air under pressure in the manner which is schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 13. Thus, referring to FIG. 13 it will be seen thatany suitable tank 80 is provided with a supply of compressed air. Thiscompressed air flows in the manner shown by the solid arrows in FIG. 13when the machine is off, which is to say when an operating cycle is notin progress. In response to initiation of an operating cycle the airunder pressure will flow in the manner shown by the dotted arrows inFIG. 13. Thus, it will be seen that the tank 80 communicates throughsuitable conduits with a known valve structure 82 in order to apply airunder pressure normally through the conduit 84 into the cylinder 76 tothe piston therebeneath so as to maintain the piston in an elevatedposition which will maintain the carriage means 34 in its upperretracted position. The conduits extending from the tank 80 include aconduit portion carrying an operator-actuated valve means 86 situatedbeneath the foot pedal 16. When the operator depresses the foot pedal 16the valve 86 permits the air to flow from the tank through the conduit88 to the valve 82, and now in a known way the air under pressure willflow through the conduit 90 into the upper end of the cylinder 76 so asto displace the piston therein downwardly. Systems of this type are perse well known and in accordance with the position of the valve one orthe other sides of the piston in the cylinder 76 will be vented to theatmosphere. FIG. 13 schematically illustrates the carriage means 34fixed to the piston rod 78. Thus, with this construction whenever theoperator depresses the pedal 16 the carriage means 34 will be drivendownwardly along its working stroke, and after reaching its lower endposition it will return automatically along its return stroke to itsupper retracted position when the operator released pedal 16. In thisway it is possible for the operator to hold the shoes 20 properly withrespect to the tag 36 so that these components will be attached to eachother in the manner described above with the bar-lock fastener 72. Aftercompleting one cycle of operation, the operator will remove the shoesand tag attached to each other as shown in FIG. 7 and these operationswill then be repeated for the next pair of shoes. Of course, at thistime another tag will be located at the position of the tag 26 shown inFIG. 2.

As is apparent from FIGS. 1 3 and 5, the table 12 of the support means10 is formed with an elongated slot 92 along which the positioning means24 is movable between its front end position shown in FIG. 2 and a rearposition as shown fragmentarily in FIG. 6, the positioning means 24being shown just before it reaches its rear end position in FIG. 5. Atthis rear end position the positioning means 24 is situated beneath themagazine means 94 which supports a stack of tags 26 in such a way thatthe lower surface of the lowermost tag 26 can be engaged by thepositioning means 24 to be removed from the magazine means 94 andreturned to the position shown for the tag 26 in FIG. 2. Thus, themagazine means 94 is situated over the rear portion of the slot 92 as isapparent from FIG. 1.

The magazine means 94 includes a pair of brackets 96 fastened to thetable 12 on opposite sides of slot 92 and capable of supporting throughadjusting screws 98 the upright channels 100, which engage the sideedges of the tags in the stack, and the front end rear angle irons 102.The front angle iron 102 is provided at its bottom end with a rearwardlyextending projection 104 on which the tags rest with their front orleading edges engaging the right edge 106 of the front angle iron 102.The rear angle iron 102 fixedly carries a substantially L-shaped bracket108 on which the stack of tags rest at their rear or trailing endregions, the trailing edges of the stack of tags engaging the front edge110 of the rear angle iron 102. Because the adjusting screws 98 aresituated in horizontal slots of the brackets 96, the several channelsand angle irons can be adjusted within certain limits to any desiredinclinations as illustrated. The adjustment is such that the tags 26 arearranged in the magazine means 94 with their front leading edges at anelevation somewhat higher than their rear trailing edges.

As was indicated above, the ports 28 of the positioning means 24 arecontinuously in communication with a source of suction during operationof the machine. As the positioning means 24 moves rearwardly to themagazine means 94, the force of suction will place the lower surface ofthe bottom tag in the stack in engagement with the upper surface of thepositioning means 24. As this positioning means 24 continues to moverearwardly it will displace the lower tag in the stack to the rear sothat its leading edge initially moves to the rear to clear theprojection 104. Then this leading edge snaps down so that the tag 26assumes the position shown in FIG. 6 for the tag which is engaging thepositioning means 24. Then this positioning means 24 is returnedforwardly along the slot 92 to the front position shown in FIG. 2., withthe result that the tag 26 released in this way from the magazine means94 is carried along with positioning means back to the location shown inFIG. 2 in preparation for attachment with the next article.

The positioning means 24 is moved between its front end position shownin FIG. 2 and its rear end position shown in FIG. 6 by a moving meanswhich is operatively connected to the positioning means 24 and which isalso in the form of a fluid-pressure system. In the particular exampleillustrated, this fluid-pressure system for the positioning means 24forms part of the system which is shown in FIG. 13. Thus, thepositioning means 24 is fixedly carried by the front end of an elongatedpiston rod 112 which is normally in a forwardly extended positionprojecting outwardly beyond a pneumatic cylinder 114 which houses apiston fixed to the rear end of the piston rod 112. The tank ofcompressed air 80 which supplies air to the cylinder 76 as describedabove also communicates through a valve 116 with conduits 118 and 120for delivering air alternately to opposite sides of the piston in thecylinder 114. When the valve 116 is in its rest position the air underpressure is at the right side of the piston maintaining the rod 112 inits forwardly extended position so as to maintain the positioning means24 in its forward end position with a tag thereon situated over anarticle as described above. However, when the valve 116 is actuated,this valve, which has a conventional construction, will admit the airunder pressure through the front conduit 118 to the cylinder 114 so asto retract the piston on the rod 112, thus displacing the positioningmeans 24 to the magazine means 94 in order to receive a tag therefrom asdescribed above, and upon reaching its rear end position the piston 112is automatically reversed by the return of the valve 116 to its initialposition so that in a well known manner the air under pressure willagain flow through the conduit 120 in order to return the positioningmeans 124 to its front end po sition with a tag carried thereby from themagazine means.

In order to provide a positioning of a new tag over an article in apurely automatic manner, the valve 116 is positioned so as to respondautomatically to the location of the carriage means 34 at its lower endposition. For this purpose, the carriage means 34 fixedly carries avalve-actuating rod 122 which upon downward move ment of the carriagemeans 34 is displaced through an opening 124 of the table 12 from theupper position shown in FIG. 2 to the lower position shown in FIG. 5.This rod 122 will now engage with its lower end the valve 116 so as tobring about the above retraction of the positioning means 24. Of course,upon return of the carriage means 34 to its upper retracted position,the valve 116 resumes its initial position and the positioning means 24is returned to its forward end position.

While it has been pointed out above that the rod 122 is carried by thecarriage means 34!, it will be seen that the rod is fixed to an angleiron 126 which is fixed to the slide bar 414 so that in this way the rod122 is connected to the carriage means 34 for vertical movementtherewith.

it is therefore apparent that with the above-described structure of theinvention when the valve 86 is not actumeans 34 reaches its lower endposition the rod 122 will act on the valve 116 so as to retract thepositioning means 124. However, at this time the needle of the dispenser50 has already traveled through the tag 26 which is at the front endposition so that this tag 26 is prevented from returning with thepositioning means 24. While the operator maintains the pedal 16 in itslower position, the carriage 34 remains at its lower end position andthe positioning means 24 remains at its rear position shown in FIG. 6.Upon release of the pedal 16 the carriage 34 will be returned to itsupper retracted position and the operator will remove the shoes with atag attached thereto as shown in FIG. 7. At the same time a new tag willautomatically be returned to the front position as described above.Although the invention has been described above particularlyinconnection with a pair of shoes, it is of course apparent that themachine may be used for attaching a tag to any desired article orarticles. The above-described embodiment of the invention isparticularly suitable, however, for those articles where the operatormust hold the articles in position with respect to each other while atag is attached thereto. Thus, because the hands of the operator arerequired in connection with maniuplations of the articles, the aboveembodiment of the invention is particularly convenient because theoperator need only move the pedal 16 with a foot in order to bring aboutthe required operations.

The embodiment of FIGS. 8 11 is particularly suitable for those cases.where the tag is to be attached to an article in the form of a sheetmaterial such as the fabric of an article of clothing. The embodiment ofFIGS. 8 1 1 is identical with FIGS. 1 7 except for the differences notedbelow. Thus, in this case the carriage means 130 corresponds to thecarriage means 34 and is operated in the same way. However, the carriagemeans 130 has a transverse wall 132 to which the dispenser 50 isattached by way of a bracket 134 accessible at the front of the carriagemeans and releasably fixed by manually rotating screws 136. In this waythe dispenser 50 is positioned so that it extends in a plane which isperpendicular to the slot 92, whereas in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 7the dispenser 50is situated in a plane parallel to the slot 92.Therefore, this embodiment includes atrigger mean 138 which is in itsoperation identical with the trigge i eans 60. The only difference isthat the trigger meani 38 is positioned as shown in FIGS. 8 10 so as tobe located beneath the trigger lever of the dispenser 50 to engage thetrigger lever when the carriage means 130 approaches its lower endposition in the manner described above.

Furthermore, with this embodiment of the invention the operator-actuatedvalve means 86 is replaced by an operator-actuated valve means 140including a pair of series-connected manually operable valves 142a and1472b. Thus, it will be understood that the structure shown in FIG. 14is incorporated into FIG. 13 replacing the valve 86' and the foot pedall6.

With the embodiment of FIGS. 8 Ill the table 12 is altered so as to haveafront upwardly directed supporting surface 144, corresponding to thesurface18 but shaped differently, as shown most clearly in FIG. 10. Thissurface 144 forms part of a wall which has oppositelyinclineddownwardly,depending portions carrying the valves 142a: and 1425as shown most clearly in FIGS. 10 and 14. This wall 'of the table 12which has the surface 144 is formed with the'opening 146 through whichthe needle of the dispenser can travel.

Except for the above differences the embodiment of FIGS. 8 11 isidentical with that of FIGS. 1 7. Thus, as may be seen from FIG. 10, theoperator will place a sheet of fabric 148, forming part of the garment,for example, on the surface 144, and then while holding the sheet on thesurface the operator will with both hands respectively engage thevalves'142a and 142b in order to open them simultaneously. It is only inthis way that the fluid-pressure will reach the cylinder 76 as describedabove. Thus, as a result of this safety feature the operator mustnecessarily keep his hands away from the region of the opening 146through which the needle travels in order to attach a tag to the article148.

FIG. 12 shows a tag 26 fastened to the article 148 by the illustratedbar-lock fastener 72 which is identical with that of FIG. 7. It will benoted that in this case also the larger end 68 is situated outside ofthe tag 26 so that tag-switching cannot take place. For example, if thefastener 72 shown in FIG. 12 were reversed so that the smaller cross-barportion 70 were located in the upper position over the tag 26, it wouldbe a simple matter for an individual to displace the tag 26from thefastener and replace it with another tag bearing a different price.However, with the illustrated arrangement the larger end 68 does notpermit such tag-switching to take place.

FIGS. 17 illustrate a further embodiment of the tag positioning meansand magazine means, shown in FIGS. 15 17 in association with theembodiment of FIGS. 8 11 although it is to be understood that thestructure of FIGS. 15 17 can equally well be associated with theembodiment of FIGS. 1 7.

Thus, the embodiment of FIGS. 15 17 also includes the pair of sidebrackets 96 fastened in any suitable way to the table 12 and carryingthescrews 98 which carry the additional elements of the magazine means148. These additional elements include a pair of side channel members100, which may be identical with those of the above-described magazinemeans 94. However, the rear angle iron 102 is replaced in theembodimentof FIGS. 15 17 by a simple bar 150 which is verticallyarranged as shown in FIG. 16. Also, the front angle iron 192 iseliminated and replaced by a simple vertically adjustable screw 152.This screw is threaded through a bore in a horizontally projecting arm154 of a bracket 156 which is fixed to the left bracket 96 of FIG. 17.

With this embodiment of the invention, the slot 92 of theabove-described structure is replaced by an elongated slot 158 in whichthe positioning means 160 is movable in the same way that thepositioning means 24 moves along the slot 92. However, the positioningmeans 160 has a pair of side flanges 162 which project beyond the slot158 and slidably engage the upper surface of the table 12. The outerside edges of the flanges 162 are guided between a pair of plasticguiding strips res which are fixed to the top surface of the table 12 inany suitable way, such as by the screws 166. The

thickness of the flanges 162 is equal to the thickness of the guidestrips 164, so that the latter have upper surfaces at the same elevationas the upper surface of the positioning means160. Moreover, the severaltags 26 rest directly on the guide strips 164. The rear portions of theguide strips 164 in effect form part of the magazine since they supportthe stack of tags 26 which are positioned between the channels andbetween the screw 152 and the rear bar 156. Theelevation of the screw152 is such that only the leading edge of the lowermost tag 26 is freeto move forwardly.

The positioning means carries at its opposite sides a pair of rollers167 which are freely rotatable and which engage the lower surface of thetable 12.

Except for the above differences the structure of the positioning means160 is identical with that of the positioning means 24, this positioningmeans 160 also having the several ports 168 which are constantlymaintained in communication with the source of suction while the machineis turned on.

Thus, with this embodiment when the piston rod 170 is retracted inprecisely the same way as the piston rod 112 described above, thepositioning means 160 will be retracted to the position shown in dottedlines in FIG. 16,.engaging the bottom tag 26, and then during the returnstroke of the rod 170 the tag will be returned to a-position over thesupporting surface 144 so that the attaching operation can be carriedout as described above. With this embodiment the positioning means 160isguided in a far more precise manner than with the above describedembodiments since it is compelled to slide along the upper surface ofthe table 12 between the guide strips 164 which perform the additionalfunction of supporting the tags in the magazine means.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for attaching a tag to an article by means of a bar-lockfastener, support means having an upwardly directed supporting surfaceon which an article is adapted to be placed in preparation for having atag attached to the article with a bar-lock fastener, positioning meanslocated adjacent said supporting surface of said support means forpositioning a tag at a lo-' cation situated over and spaced from saidsupporting surface so that part of the article can be situated on thesupporting surface beneath part of the tag between the tag and saidsupporting surface, carriage means situ' ated at an elevation higherthan said supporting surface for carrying a bar-lock dispenser whichwhen triggered upon reaching a dispensing location will dispense abarlock fastener and introduce the same downwardly through a tag andarticle situated therebeneath on said supporting surface, guide meanscarried by said support means and operatively connected with saidcarriage means for guiding the latter for downward movement from anupper retracted position to a lower end position situating a dispensercarried by said carriage means at said dispensing location, triggermeans carried by said support means and situated in the path movement ofa dispenser carried by said carriage means for triggering the dispenserwhen the latter is situated by said carriage means at said dispensinglocation, fluid-pressure means operatively connected with said carriagemeans for moving the latter along said guide means along a workingstroke downwardly from said upper retracted position to said lower endposition and along a return stroke upwardly from said lower end positionto said upper retracted position, and operatoractuated control meansaccessible to the operator and operatively connected with saidfluid-pressure means for controlling the latter to carry out anoperating cycle during which said carriage means is moved along itsworking and return strokes, whereby after an article is placed on saidsupporting surface and a tag is positioned by said positioning meansover the article the operator can actuate the operator-actuated controlmeans to bring about an operating cycle where the tag will be attachedto the article by way of a bar-lock fastener.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said positioning means isformed with at least one port adapted to be covered by a tag, andsuction means communicating with said port of said positioning means forholding a tag in engagement with said positioning means by suction.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein a magazine means is carried bysaid support means for holding a supply of tags to be successivelyengaged by said positioning means and released thereto for movement bysaid positioning means from said magazine means to an attaching locationwhere a tag held by said positioning means is positioned over thesupporting surface and an article held against the supporting surface bythe operator, said suction means maintaining said port continuouslyunder suction during operation of the machine, and moving meansoperatively connected to said positioning means for responding to thedisplacement of said carriage means to said lower end position thereofto move said positioning means from said attaching location, where a tagis held by the triggered dispenser, to said magazine means to receivethe next tag and then back to said attaching location with a new tag tobe attached to the next article.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said moving means is operatedby a fluid under pressure and includes a control valve which whenactuated causes the moving means automatically to carry out an operatingcycle during which the positioning means is displaced from saidattaching location to said magazine means and then back to saidattaching location with the next tag, said carriage means carrying aprojection which moves with said carriage means along the working andreturn strokes thereof. and said control valve being situated in thepath of movement of said projection to be actuated thereby when saidcarriage means reaches the lower end position thereof.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said operatoractuated meansincludes a foot pedal to be moved by the operator for initiating anoperating cycle.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said operator-actuated meansincludes a pair of seriesconnected valves between which said supportingsurface is located, said series-connected valves requiring manipulationby both hands of the operator for initiating an operating cycle by saidfluid-pressure means.

7. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said tags each have a frontleading edge and rear trailing edge, said magazine means positioningsaid tags for engagement of the lowermost tag at a downwardly directedsurface thereof by an upwardly directed surface of said positioningmeans to be first retracted by said positioning means through arelatively short distance rearwardly to release the leading edge of saidlowermost tag so that the latter can then be carried forwardly from themagazine means by the positioning means to said attaching location.

8. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said magazine means holds saidtags one above the other at a location where the lowermost tag has afront leading edge released for movement toward the attaching locationso the when the positioning means engages the lowermost tag it can movethe latter from the magazine means to the attaching location.

9. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said sup- I port meansincludes a table having a front region where said supporting surface islocated, said table being formed rearwardly of said front region with anelongated rearwardly extending slot through which said positioning meansextends and along which said positioning means moves between saidattaching location and said magazine means.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said positioning means is inthe form of a block carrying projections which slideably engage saidtable on opposite sides of said slot and rollers which have rollingcontact with a lower surface of said table also on opposite sides ofsaid slot.

11. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said carriage means carriessaid dispenser in the position where it is situated in a planesubstantially parallel to said slot.

12. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said carriage means carriessaid dispenser in the position where it is situated in a plane which issubstantially perpendicular to said slot.

13. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said support means includesguide strips for guiding said positioning means, and said stripssupporting tags in said magazine means.

1. In a machine for attaching a tag to an article by means of a bar-lockfastener, support means having an upwardly directed supporting surfaceon which an article is adapted to be placed in preparation for having atag attached to the article with a barlock fastener, positioning meanslocated adjacent said supporting surface of said support means forpositioning a tag at a location situated over and spaced from saidsupporting surface so that part of the article can be situated on thesupporting surface beneath part of the tag between the tag and saidsupporting surface, carriage means situated at an elevation higher thansaid supporting surface for carrying a bar-lock dispenser which whentriggered upon reaching a dispensing location will dispense a bar-lockfastener and introduce the same downwardly through a tag and articlesituated therebeneath on said supporting surface, guide means carried bysaid supporT means and operatively connected with said carriage meansfor guiding the latter for downward movement from an upper retractedposition to a lower end position situating a dispenser carried by saidcarriage means at said dispensing location, trigger means carried bysaid support means and situated in the path movement of a dispensercarried by said carriage means for triggering the dispenser when thelatter is situated by said carriage means at said dispensing location,fluid-pressure means operatively connected with said carriage means formoving the latter along said guide means along a working strokedownwardly from said upper retracted position to said lower end positionand along a return stroke upwardly from said lower end position to saidupper retracted position, and operator-actuated control means accessibleto the operator and operatively connected with said fluid-pressure meansfor controlling the latter to carry out an operating cycle during whichsaid carriage means is moved along its working and return strokes,whereby after an article is placed on said supporting surface and a tagis positioned by said positioning means over the article the operatorcan actuate the operator-actuated control means to bring about anoperating cycle where the tag will be attached to the article by way ofa bar-lock fastener.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein saidpositioning means is formed with at least one port adapted to be coveredby a tag, and suction means communicating with said port of saidpositioning means for holding a tag in engagement with said positioningmeans by suction.
 3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein a magazinemeans is carried by said support means for holding a supply of tags tobe successively engaged by said positioning means and released theretofor movement by said positioning means from said magazine means to anattaching location where a tag held by said positioning means ispositioned over the supporting surface and an article held against thesupporting surface by the operator, said suction means maintaining saidport continuously under suction during operation of the machine, andmoving means operatively connected to said positioning means forresponding to the displacement of said carriage means to said lower endposition thereof to move said positioning means from said attachinglocation, where a tag is held by the triggered dispenser, to saidmagazine means to receive the next tag and then back to said attachinglocation with a new tag to be attached to the next article.
 4. Thecombination of claim 3 and wherein said moving means is operated by afluid under pressure and includes a control valve which when actuatedcauses the moving means automatically to carry out an operating cycleduring which the positioning means is displaced from said attachinglocation to said magazine means and then back to said attaching locationwith the next tag, said carriage means carrying a projection which moveswith said carriage means along the working and return strokes thereof,and said control valve being situated in the path of movement of saidprojection to be actuated thereby when said carriage means reaches thelower end position thereof.
 5. The combination of claim 1 wherein saidoperator-actuated means includes a foot pedal to be moved by theoperator for initiating an operating cycle.
 6. The combination of claim1 and wherein said operator-actuated means includes a pair ofseries-connected valves between which said supporting surface islocated, said series-connected valves requiring manipulation by bothhands of the operator for initiating an operating cycle by saidfluid-pressure means.
 7. The combination of claim 3 and wherein saidtags each have a front leading edge and rear trailing edge, saidmagazine means positioning said tags for engagement of the lowermost tagat a downwardly directed surface thereof by an upwardly directed surfaceof said positioning means to be first retracted by said positioningmeans throUgh a relatively short distance rearwardly to release theleading edge of said lowermost tag so that the latter can then becarried forwardly from the magazine means by the positioning means tosaid attaching location.
 8. The combination of claim 3 and wherein saidmagazine means holds said tags one above the other at a location wherethe lowermost tag has a front leading edge released for movement towardthe attaching location so the when the positioning means engages thelowermost tag it can move the latter from the magazine means to theattaching location.
 9. The combination of claim 3 and wherein saidsupport means includes a table having a front region where saidsupporting surface is located, said table being formed rearwardly ofsaid front region with an elongated rearwardly extending slot throughwhich said positioning means extends and along which said positioningmeans moves between said attaching location and said magazine means. 10.The combination of claim 9 and wherein said positioning means is in theform of a block carrying projections which slideably engage said tableon opposite sides of said slot and rollers which have rolling contactwith a lower surface of said table also on opposite sides of said slot.11. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said carriage means carriessaid dispenser in the position where it is situated in a planesubstantially parallel to said slot.
 12. The combination of claim 9 andwherein said carriage means carries said dispenser in the position whereit is situated in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to saidslot.
 13. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said support meansincludes guide strips for guiding said positioning means, and saidstrips supporting tags in said magazine means.